Hello everyone, I bring you a new chapter today!

I'll be fixing bugs soon as I find some, I know this part may be a bit overwhelming but I hope you like it.

Enjoy and write a review what you think… criticism is not unwelcome.


It's been a week since Shirou was discharged from his stay at the hospital, it was determined that since his body was no longer in a compromised condition he could leave the place and was no longer a patient. Personally, he was glad to do so, since he would no longer lie in one place with nurses at his every turn, who scolded him when he tried to make the slightest move. Probably still upset with him for opening one of his larger injuries on his abdomen, making more bandages soaked with blood.

Not wanting to make any more trouble at that time, Shirou sighed at the situation he was in and decided to wait it out and use the allotted time to rest. In the following days he was already able to walk under supervision to the window and in the corridor, at least they opened the window at his request then, the feeling of smoke in his lungs decided to finally leave him.

Going back to the beginning, the doctor he met with Shirou during his stay finally let him leave, diagnosing him with no specific contraindications other than a few pieces of advice that he would prefer the auburn-haired boy to follow. Such as not overworking his muscles and eating a healthy diet, although he had no problem with that, given that he's not particularly fond of fast food and prefers to prepare something himself.

He fondly remembers how Rin once forced him to make her homemade food because the food in the Clock Tower tasted like crap.

Shirou's thoughts still lingered on how struggling her face was as she tried to maintain the appearance of a proper magus while at the same time trying not to devour his dishes all at once.

Given his options, he had to think about how he should proceed now.

As Shirou stepped outside the hospital gates, his body downright blissful with the fresh air that filled his lungs.

"So you're that boy, eh?" Quizzical eyes fell on the figure speaking to the redhead, a man with light blond hair and distinct facial features, "Emiya Shirou correct?" He enquired, although the tone of his voice gave the impression that he already knew the answer.

Despite his casual quip, Shirou still found himself keeping his guard up prepared, it wasn't often that someone knew his name offhand, more often he got away by given titles.

"Do you need something sir?" Shirou countered back, though confirming his identity.

Perhaps seeing something in his expression, the person in the sunglasses raised his hands defensively before replying hastily, "Woah, woah easy boy, no bad intentions here." Realizing that his comment might have been misunderstood, the man muttered to himself, "Shit, I really am dumb sometimes."

The former patient heard him muttering even though the words were quiet. Shirou mentally breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't have to start another fight. He really should drop his guard down, but after recent events it was still difficult to return to natural reactions among average people instead of magus or fighting different kinds of beings.

Still it left the question of who the man in front of him was exactly.

At the same time, not wanting to make the conversation even more awkward, the man cleared his throat, "Name's Haruto, Keisatsu Haruto! I'm supposed to pick you up from Hana Hospital today. Are you familiar with a person named Shimada Gorou?"

Shirou nodded in conformance, "I met him before, the person who saved me."

"Right." The man named Haruto smiled hearing his answer, "The person who found you in that forest is also trusted law enforcement operative. You can say that Shimada-san has been working with us for several years now, offering IT support although I won't go into details, you can guess what I mean."

That's surprising. Shirou didn't expect that the person he had been talking to for several hours was involved in something as important as helping with Japanese affairs, what a coincidence indeed.

"You need something from me don't you?" Shirou claimed, "There's not much I can do though."

Haruto waved away his troubles.

"The issue is that you don't have any citizenship in official state records or any form of identification with you. The lab is still checking you for DNA tests, but so far none have been successful. Honestly, I have no idea how it is possible that in the 21st century someone can appear out of nowhere but you managed to catch me off guard, seriously. You have a lot of surprises in you Emiya-kun, to corner even the investigation board's head." He said with a big smile, "It's been a long time since I've seen them so desperate for answers."

The man recalled their faces, and how they acted like kicked puppies when he asked for the results of the investigation, making him crack a laugh.

Shirou chose to interject, "You are some kind of agent no? To know so much you can't be a regular person, Haruto-san." Shirou stated, his eyes scanning the clothing of the person in front of him however failed to find any things to support his statements, the man in front of him was dressed in casual clothes, more like he was going to the beach than being a government agent.

"Ahaha, you're on quite an interesting lead." He took a sip of the cold coffee he had in his hand before continuing, "While I'd love to continue this conversation, we need to arrange a few more things. It would be easier if I could speak to you by name, don't you agree?" He nodded, having no reservations about what could go wrong.

"I assure you that I am on the part of the good guys Shirou-kun." Haruto put his hand in his pocket to take something out, as he finished it, a badge representing an abbreviation of some kind of investigative department appeared to Shirou's gaze, "You will be coming with me, your situation is quite complicated now. After all, it's not a normal day when you meet not only a homeless teenager not going to school, but also one without proof of existence. Quite a messy thing isn't it?"

The auburn-haired boy knew that it was a matter of time before specific authorities took an interest in him, but he would not have expected such a fast approach, truly, without the magus altering the memory of civilians, it was difficult to escape their attention once you had blundered all the way in.

"What do you suggest, then, Haruto-san?"

"Shirou-kun, tell me please. Wouldn't you be interested to hear a story about a boy whose origins are unknown, who is not yet an adult according to the law, he is found half dead in the woods where there is no sign of anyone who can explain the whole thing to us. A hard thing to crack right?"

He continued, "The boy has few ways out of such a situation, most of them ending not very positively for him. What should one do in such a situation if he wants to find a solution for such a youth therefore?"

"…"

"Obviously, the person is trying to get around the problem by bending most of the laws that accompany you as an enigma in the state. Adding to this is the fact that your appearance features mostly point to a Japanese origin. You really are very lucky Shirou-kun that Shimada-san found you that day. Because thanks to that, we were able to find your way out."

Not-quite-Magus began to see what direction the conversation was headed, the words left his mouth before he could process them, "So you were trying to find me a place to stay yes? However, staying wherever I was supposed to end up was not to your liking, causing us to have this conversation right now."

"That's almost right!" He saw Haruto nod his head a few times while tapping his foot playfully, "But you left out one thing, your whereabouts or future residence. I can't just leave you unattended after all, I hope you see my point."

This made Shirou blink, his mouth opening in confusion.

"Wait, what do you mean. Where am I supposed to live exactly?"

Haruto's smile showed full teeth.

"With me, of course."


Shirou was surprised by the sense of simplicity that Haruto's apartment gave him, the rooms' walls were painted white along with some accessories for clothing such as hangers at the entrance and shoe racks that complimented everything with their deep dark coloring.

"Sorry for intruding." The auburn haired teenager said, bowing down while removing his shoes, there was a certain custom to his movements.

"So you are the traditional type huh. You know, there is a small number of people that already stop following traditions, another hundred years and maybe Japan will already forget the tradition of entering someone's home." Haruto-san expressed his opinion casually with his usual broad smile, finding something funny in Shirou's actions, "Make yourself as comfortable as you like, although I won't tell you to feel at home just yet. I know it will still be a while before you get used to this place."

"Thanks, Haruto-san but its fine." Shirou shared his thoughts, "It's just hard to imagine that you are willing to take me into your home here. I doubt that any middle-aged man would take in a teenager with an unknown background under his roof, you really have kind heart."

"Hahah stop with the sugaring, you're going to come off as naive and ignorant if you take everything on someone's good character like that. I'm something like a federal agent, so I'm not your 'every man'... Wait what did you call me!"?

"Nothing." Was the quick answer.

"I saw it! You definitely smirked for a second back there! I'm only twenty-two, damn it!" So he was younger than Shirou, counting the time before his mysterious transport to this place, preceding that incident.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shirou smartly appeared innocently, ignoring the man's whining, continuing to inspect the appearance of the further room, which must have been the main room, it was certainly futuristic, in the middle was a black and white couch with tiger stripes and a model of television that Shirou had never had the pleasure of seeing before, it was large and took up most of the wall, a nice piece of technology.

He still couldn't get over the fact that it's been a few more years since his time, or rather, he's in a time that happens a few years later than it should be for Shirou. It was the beginning of year 2016, yet technological advancements had shot forward since his stay, was it a matter of a different reality?

This is something he will have to think about later, he was too exhausted now.

Listening to the music of the radio in his time in the car combined with Haruto's awful singing hardly did wonders for him, let alone give him a rest. Days of constantly sitting in a single hospital bed had their effect as soon as Shirou began to walk, despite his fit physique, this idle time still had led his body to a certain dormancy.

"Cheeky kid, I stick my neck out for you here, y'know? I'm really trying not to lose my position here! I'm drowning in paperwork!" The man exclaimed not serious, Shirou could tell by the way his eyes flashed with amusement.

Haruto-san's words, however, seemed true, but the red-haired boy doubted that even a federal agent or someone like that could take in a potential threat or unknown from such a point of view, but he didn't want to pursue the topic. His situation was already extraordinarily complicated, and he didn't want it to get any worse than it already is.

"Heyo, quit having your head in the clouds and follow me." Haruto waved his hand a few times, seemingly in exasperation but Shirou knew there was nothing malicous about it.

The auburn-haired teenager kept pace with him before they were at the second door he saw in the distance, "This is where your room will be." Shirou saw a room containing several posters on the walls and a desk along with a black box under it, a monitor on a desk.

Other than that, everything looked relatively normal, there was a bed and dressers, giving the impression of an ordinary guest room.

What gave away the importance of the room, however, were the single photos depicting a young blond boy, who could only be a young version of the man standing next to him.

"Isn't this your room though? I don't think I should stay here."

"Nah, no worries, I'm drowning in paperwork in the next room right now, so that's where I sleep. I should literally think about making a bed of paperwork haha. However, I don't recommend going in there because you'll break down seeing the mess." Haruto further commented with a weak grin, probably imagining the amount of work that will come with the young youth's arrival.

"I see." Shirou didn't really think much about it, he will just avoid entering the room, "Whatever concerning me comes back to you as a hassle you can tell me, I don't wish to really bother you that much." The red-head words were genuine. Shirou couldn't burden someone, he didn't deserve to have someone risk most of their work for him, whether it was true or not, it made no difference.

"Now, don't be so stiff."

Regardless of the intentions of the person named Haruto, Shirou still had rather nothing to worry about, there were no apparent bad intentions from the man even as he was not fully sincere, and even if he was, Shirou doubted that the truth was anything harmful.

There were still more pressing matters for him to consider, what Haruto-san decided to do with him wasn't really that much in his interest, it's not the first time Shirou found himself in a foreign country without identification, given that in a foreign country it wasn't considered for much regarding foreigners during the civil war in which he tried to save as much as he could.

Even as the circumstances were a little different, because Japan was in fact his home nation.

Shirou sighed.

Trouble always found him, but at least he was already getting out of more of them, finding a job will not be a periodic problem for long.

"...Now that I think about it, I forgot the most important thing, clothes!" Haruto voiced, making a face as if scrutinizing his insight, how someone like that could be the head of an investigation department he could only wonder. Shirou realized that, indeed, all he was wearing was a hospital T-shirt and the remnants of his previous clothes, which had been salvaged after being cut from his clothes during the paramedics' attempts to rescue him.

If Rin saw him now, she would start tearing her hair out of her head at the sight of him, truly an unsightly appearance.

"Come on, let's go find you something!" He let himself be dragged into the room by an energetic man, praying that he wouldn't come out dressed as a clown.

After a while, Shirou was wearing a gradient shirt with warm colors along with palm trees on it somehow enriching its design and short white pants barely complimenting the whole setup.

The man scrutinized him, he made a small rectangle with his fingers and other hand reversed, observing him through it as if it would change his perceptions and see imperfections.

"Hmm."

He undid the single button at the top of the shirt at the collar lenght, somehow allowing Shirou's muscularity to be noticed, "Now no girl can resist you, I guarantee it." He joked.

Just when this became a focus, Shirou questioned in his mind thereby emphasizing the man's sanity.

"No no, something is missing here." Haruto pondered before the idea dawned over his head, Shirou dreaded to think what came to his mind. The blonde adult picked up his sunglasses, gently setting them on the tip of the boy's nose, looking at him as if it were his masterpiece, "Now it's perfect."

Shirou stared at his reflection in the mirror without blinking.

"I look like you." He stated after a while, the time spent standing still not fully registering in the brain, his tone cautiously blank, lacking will and strength.

"Exactly!" The response he got was a thumbs up, "You're good-looking guy and you need to take advantage of that because no one will give you a look without a passing glance! Isn't that what every boy your age wants?"

"I don't think so-"

The man didn't let him finish however, "I'll be in the living room if you need anything. You remember how to operate the fridge and the restroom right?"

Shirou didn't have an amnesia.

"Alrighto, make youself comfortable here, you can use the computer, the password is HandsomeBlond123 if you were trying to access it. Tomorrow we will have to deal with the rest of your identification, there is a limit to what I can do in the end." And with a wink he was gone, leaving Shirou alone with a sense of insanity left in the wake of his energy.

With a sudden feeling of fatigue, Shirou sat on the bed, all while removing the awful sunglasses from his nose. He quietly analyzed everything that had happened so far.

At that time, while leaving the hospital his senses were dulled but now he was sure, this Japan, this World had no Mana in the air. And it wasn't a matter of its scant amount, it just wasn't there. And with that came the realization of how lost he was, the absence of any Mystery meant that everything was different from what he knew, he took in with his eyes closed.

In conclusion, the Clock Tower he knew during his stay there with Rin also didn't exist, and god forbid, what about Rin herself? The very thought made him sick to his stomach.

What did that mean exactly? He didn't know yet, did Gaia, the Will of the Planet never existed or did it just go into some sort of slumber? What about the Phantasmal Species that inhabited the planet long ago, they never existed? There were just so many questions and so few answers.

He just hoped that Rin would figure out a way and find him, she always did. She was a magical genius in the end and Shirou didn't know a more successful magus than her.

This thought, however, came at a cost, Shirou knew what the Second Magic did, the Kaldeioscope, meaning Operation of Parallel Worlds, and while Shirou knew how powerful True Magic was, he also knew what it implied.

It had come with marvel before but now he could only some sense of fear, this was not a Parallel World, but a whole other Parallel Universe! Rin had told him that Mana existed in parallel worlds seen by the Second Magic, and this one had none, which made him uncomfortable with the idea.

But it wasn't the end of the world, just because there was no Mana in the air didn't mean Shirou was powerless, there was still Od produced by his Magic Circuits, which provided him with the ability to use his skillset.

However, it didn't explain how he was still alive, wasn't Mana needed for some of his organs to function as a magus anyway? He didn't know, knowledge of magecraft didn't come the easiest way to him, and Shirou wasn't ashamed to say he was a failure as a magus.

Shirou rose from the side of the bed, trying to mobilize his body to cooperate, but not before making sure the door was locked.

He closed his eyes.

"Trace on." Words were infused with power despite being spoken in a whisper, the blue lights began their dancing, passing through the phases of projection one by one, from the incomplete scheme a copy was created closest to the original.

From another perspective, it would look like Shirou reached out his hand and held an invisible handle before it began to be filled with mysterious light in his grip.

It was an ordinary steel sword like one of many, there was nothing extraordinary about it other than its distinct sheen, it was not memorable and had no long history other than being in the possession of a nameless knight who got it from the local blacksmith to fight what he thought was right.

The boy made several sweeps to test the weapon, the blade cut through the air, its weight standard, nothing he couldn't carry.

"!"

A single pain shot through his body, sending a wave that stiffened his muscles and forced him to take a sharp breath.

Shirou stumbled backward, not knowing the cause for the sudden pain coming apparently from nowhere. A drop of sweat gathered on his forehead, his Magic Circuits seemed to be having difficulty functioning.

Crack!

A resounding cracking sound erupted for his ears to hear, amber eyes watched with confusion as the central ridge along with the edge of the blade began to crack, the projection began to disintegrate before his very eyes.

The projection collapsed into pieces that crumbled into blue fragments, disappearing from reality and leaving no trace as if it never existed.

This worried him.

It was unnatural for such an abnormality to occur, while the change in age could potentially affect his magical side of his existence, it hardly explained the mysterious pain that coursed through his body the moment he tried to project something.

Shirou hesitatingly wondered what he should do when suddenly an idea befitting his younger counterpart came to his mind, it was crazy and dangerous and totally insane.

While it wasn't that simple for others, the red-haired boy intended to do something that Rin would surely kill him for if she found out, and began performing magecraft called Structural Analysis on himself.

He was a sword.

Messing around with Magic Circuits was never good and could potentially damage his systems permanently.

He was a sword.

However, this didn't change the reality that action was required, something was wrong, he just didn't know what, and not knowing the condition of his body made it potentially dangerous. So the question was asked:

What would happen if, in an attempt to protect someone, suddenly his magecraft malfunctioned?

He was a sword.

His Magic Circuits whirled to work, trying to keep up with the actions implied by the reasoning of their user.

He couldn't take that risk.

H̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶.̶

Shirou ignored the sudden headache that came with it.

Cyan glowing lines traveled through his body, tissues, organs, red blood cells, veins. Shirou tried to change the trajectory, his brain was quickly starting to become overloaded with information and the possibility that he would be left with paste left of his brain was increasing, but he knew he couldn't back off now, he was already so close, he had to know the specific reason why his Tracing wasn't working properly.

In search of answers, the cyan lines reached the Magic Circuits, even though they do not 'exist' in the normal sense and it is impossible for modern technology to detect them, a spell that also uses a form of mystery should allow Shirou to manage to reach their location, their cores.

It technically made sense, the Magic Circuits were helping him produce Od, so why couldn't he use that conclusion to reach thourgh that energy to them?

For the average Magus, even for those with power, it wasn't worth it.

The implications were too dangerous and especially the possibility of damaging their source of mystery, it was i̶m̶p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶l̶e̶.

It was possible, he just had to reverse the entire process, identify the origin of the mystery's output in itself.

The blood in his veins pulsed, trying to keep pace with the sheer onslaught of information his brain was undergoing.

The pain that was already intense increased its scope even more, his body protested further action, trying to force him to close his eyes, but he refused to. Shirou continued on, following the beautiful electric-like glow that was so bright, his eyes couldn't perceive the outside world, only darkness with filled with light.

It was already so close, with every second Shirou came closer to solving it.

However, his attempt was abruptly interrupted, trying to make his point, his Magic Circuits began to overheat, the calm river of blue energy turned into a raging stream, hard to grasp.

What would happen when one tries to analyze its own existence?

He saw it.

The results were unpredictable. Shirou saw cracks in the world he knew, after which he was pushed out.

Shirou realized he was kneeling, his hand resting on the edge of the bed, while his body was unbearably burning with heat. The feeling was not unlike the time when he briefly regained consciousness in the hospital, feeling then the headache and the pain that followed his being.

He collapsed to the floor, the last thing heard was the door opening and a distressed voice calling out to him before consciousness left him.


The energy of unknown origin resembling white light flickered in and out, then returned to observation of the being that confused it, its presence remaining undetectable yet for longer.


Keisatsu Haruto wondered when his life became so complicated, considering the unconscious boy lying on the bed while Haruto covered him with a blanket was already fairly obvious reference as to what had changed.

He really wished he didn't have to fulfill the favor Gorou had asked him to do over the phone, but he had no choice, not after everything that had happened. To ensure the continued safety of the boy whom his closest friend found on the edge of life, all in blood, the person named Haruto had make this promise.

It looked like too much of a favor to take a foreign boy under your roof and yet in addition feed him, provide him with comfort, money and clothes.

But it couldn't have been otherwise.

Even if no one knew about it, a person named Keisatsu Haruto had to pay for his sin, trying to atone as much as he could before it consumed him from the inside, accompanied by a sense of guilt.

Money meant nothing if it couldn't redeem a life.

Only remnants of what had been there lay.

"Hah." Haruto breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, noting that he wouldn't have to call an ambulance right after bringing the boy home, another such problem he would have had.

"You really are one problematic kid eh."

The youth with the name he came to know as Shirou was sleeping peacefully, resting when Haruto had no worries about what had happened.

Looking at the red-haired teenager, whose hair was more the shade of auburn rather than the typical color of red, Haruto noticed something in his hair. Taking a closer inspection and moving lightly through the boy's hair with his palm, he noticed with surprise how one of the boy's strands had lost its previous shade and turned white? Was it gray? But it lacked that typical texture that gray hair had.

The blond man knew that this was not a natural occurrence, while he was not a doctor he had background knowledge and strands of hair didn't take on different colors from day to day, let alone hour to hour.

Given the boy's still-youthfull appearance and the fact that he seemed to be a model of good health from his appearance, this gave the impression that it was scarcely likely.

He knew that a condition existed in even young people causing graying due to unimaginably high stress or trauma, but was that the case here?

He had no idea.

Haruto wasn't the type of man who could take care of a teenager let alone a child, he hoped he had correctly determined the boy's personality, which showed he had nothing to fear.

He was an energetic man who only acted seriously in work-related situations, and at home he showed his humorous and goofy side to occasionally reminisce about the days of his youth.

Time will tell how the relation between him and the boy will turn out, Haruto will do everything in his power to do his duty and find whoever is responsible for his state, whether it lasts for a short time or forever.

The head of the Investigation Department stood up from the edge of the bed, straightening up and putting a pair of sunglasses that Shirou had left on his desk.

On his way out, he wondered where the strange smell of hot metal was coming from, but eventually dismissed it as his imagination.


Shirou didn't wake up until the next day, having slept the entire remaining day and night, while waking up, his eyes still adjusting to the light and his mouth dry from dehydration.

He left the room and headed with cautious steps toward the living room, already seeing the silhouette of a man sitting at a single table table with two chairs.

"Good morning." Shirou mouthed despite his dry throat, not quite knowing how to greet a man he had just met who used a form of Pseudo-adoption on him.

That one sounded weird.

"Yo! I made myself some toast, you wanna some kid?" The way he put it casually like that threw him off guard a bit, though after a while Shirou regained it.

"You only eat toast for breakfast?" Shirou asked in disbelief, seeing the man had several toasts on his plate that he was munching on.

After spending time cooking for his deceased father and older sister, Shirou also tried to make sure they ate healthy, seeing Haruto holding half-cooked food to his mouth that didn't yield any benefits except a stuffed stomach, he couldn't stand it.

"Eh?" Haruto was puzzled by the suddenly posed question, above his head question marks were levitating "No, well, sometimes I also eat warmed up ramen or sausages, why?"

Haruto didn't understand why there was suddenly such an expression on the boy's face, his eyebrows drew together and lifted, with his lips pursed into frown, not including his eyes-.

"Hey, why are you looking at me with such a horrified face as if you've seen something terrible!" He said, hoping for an answer, still speaking with the toast in his mouth.

There was a moment of silence in which they both stared at one another, not quite knowing what to do, with each minute an unseen heavy tension built up.

"Where is the kitchen?"

Shirou politely asked the older man after a while, without bringing up the subject of his nutrition. If it were possible he would send a blade piercing unhealthy food.

The blond man didn't know why Shirou had a facial expression with no emotion on it, his face set in a cold expression as if what he saw was unacceptable.

"Why're you asking-"

"Where. Is. The. Kitchen."

Haruto meekly led him to the kitchen and felt that he was seconds away from being pierced by a blade for some reason.


Aaaaand cut!

Always wanted to write that.

Shirou meets his new Guardian named Keisatsu Haruto and tries to unravel the mystery of why his Magic is malfunctioning. What will come of this? Who knows.

Thank you for reading, I hope for reviews and wish you a good day!

See you next time!

Next Chapter: A Misplaced Sword 3